A LOT TO LEARN

This has been an incredible journey! What I am learning is that I have to stay 100% focused on my life's changes. This experience is too important and too sensitive to take my eye off my goal, even for a moment. I wonder if my new health plan will become second nature to the point that I don't have to think about it. I've had 40 years of not-so-great health habits so I imagine that it may take years to make my new habits second nature. Sometimes when I'm running from activity to activity and I don't plan enough time to carry enough food with me, I find myself not eating frequently enough and then when I am home, I overeat the healthy food because I allowed myself to go too long without eating. In the beginning of the program, I ate too little food and I felt faint and I couldn't think straight. I added the calories of the bars and shakes with the small amount of food I was eating and I discovered that I was eating around 900 calories. So...I started searching for foods to eat that meet the criteria of the plan. I found that eating small amounts of food throughout the day is better for me than eating a mid-sized meal at the end of the day. By the time I've worked a 12-14 hour day, I don't have energy to make a "real" meal. It has helped me a lot to not just track what I eat but to also track the calories, the amount of protein, and the amount of carbs. Fountain of Youth gave me guidelines for all of these areas. It is sometimes a chore to track all of these. Yesterday, I was at Barnes and Noble and I found the perfect little journal that already has these areas written down--it also includes an exercise log and a way to track water intake. I think the journal will help me immensely! It will at least make things easier! Yeah!